


Streetlights

by suhnatched



Series: studies in love [5]
Category: K-pop, NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Small Town, Kissing, Love at First Sight, M/M, Motorcycles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-12
Updated: 2019-06-12
Packaged: 2020-05-01 20:03:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19184647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suhnatched/pseuds/suhnatched
Summary: Hendery wants nothing more than to ride down Route 66 and leave his home behind for one thing — freedom.





	Streetlights

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mcjohnnalds](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcjohnnalds/gifts).



> we love tendery in this household y a s
> 
> to thank all the ao3 writers here that have spent a lot of time writing fics for us to enjoy, i'm gifting each fic to a random writer who has written the same main ship as each one shot will be.
> 
> mcjohnnalds, this was just written on a whim but you have a tendery fic i'm so in love with, it's adorable. anyway, i hope you like this!

Living in Riverton, Kansas was boring as all hell, according to Hendery Wong.

His family moved them there from Macau, China when his father accepted an IT contracting job based in the United States, and in the ten years that they had spent living there, they had just . . . never left.

That never deterred his parents from making them the stereotypical Asian family, however — Hendery was forced to have good grades in school, only allowed to practice his dancing and martial arts for hours once his homework was done for the night, and he was expected to get his license and a job when he was old enough to obtain both. He diligently followed their rules, wanting to be a good son after all, and while he couldn’t speak the best English even after three years of living there, he got his first job at the movie theatre when he was just fourteen, working from five to nine while doing his homework and practicing into the late hours of the night only to wake up the next morning at six for school.

Once he graduated high school, he sold his car for a brand new motorcycle and rebelled from his parents somewhat; growing out his hair, piercing his ears, and even getting a tattoo of a dragon spanning his back. Still, it wasn’t enough adventure for him — the free movies he got with his employment had him sitting down every night to watch how the main characters fell in love, or saved the world, and he wanted nothing more than the freedom to just take his motorcycle down Route 66 and never look back.

The most adventure he got from his job was seeing new people every single day. Whether they were a family taking a road trip and stopping for a cheap movie ticket for a breath, or it was another person seeking their own personal freedom just like he was, Hendery was pleased with the slight variety that came from seeing someone who thought about nothing more than how ‘quaint’ his town was. But, at twenty-one years old, nothing really surprised him anymore, and he felt stuck.

That all changed one day, however, when a stranger approached the movie theatre.

Now, that wasn’t too strange in itself — many strangers approached the ticket booth every day, either to get directions down the highway or to purchase a movie ticket. This stranger, however, was Asian like him, and that was a fact that Hendery hadn’t often encountered.

He was short, perhaps shorter than Hendery himself but he couldn’t be too sure, and he had blond hair that had to have been dyed. He was wearing a leather jacket, even though it was warm and humid outside, with a pair of ripped, black skinny jeans, and he was smoking a cigarette as he crossed the street without giving any possible traffic a second glance. The stranger was undoubtedly attractive, one of the most attractive people Hendery had ever seen in his life (and he had had his gay awakening to Magic Mike, of all movies).

“I’d like to buy a ticket, please?” The stranger asked, surprisingly polite for someone dressed like a punk biker, and Hendery straightened up in the seat of his ticket booth.

“We don’t have any movies starting anytime soon, so it will be a wait for any of the movies that we have playing. Is that alright with you?” Hendery returned, knowing the movie schedule by heart since it never changed, and the stranger’s lips quirked up in the hint of a smirk before they turned back into a stoic, almost cold face.

“Why don’t you take a short break then?” The stranger said, and Hendery blinked in surprise His eyes darted down to the small, digital clock at the front of the desk, and he shifted nervously in his seat. Almost as if he was sensing the hesitation coming from him, the stranger leaned closer to the window, looking down at him with a raised perfect eyebrow. “Surely it’s hot in there, with this weather.”

And Hendery realised he was right, although he had tuned it out before. Usually, he could easily pretend that everything was fine, that he could wear his black t-shirt and black jeans (his work uniform) and sit in a confining space for hours on end until his shift was over and he could close up the theatre. But now that it had been pointed out to him in a glaringly obvious manner . . . he wanted to get out.

“I really shouldn’t leave the theatre unattended.” Hendery said as a last minute attempt to be professional, barely managing to get out those words as he cleared his throat. “I’m the only one available to work the ticket booth. There’s money in here, you know, what if it gets stolen?”

“Relax, pretty.” The stranger said with a chuckle, taking another drag of his cigarette before flicking it to the side, and Hendery’s neck turned red at the compliment. “You can stand with me right at the side, right over there. We’re not going far, just out of the way of the exit.”

Hendery contemplated the offer for a long moment before scooting his chair back, nodding jerkily as he opened the side door of the booth a slipped out, making sure to shut it behind him. He looked up to see that the stranger was indeed a couple inches shorter than him, and he smiled nervously before moving to walk over to the side of the theatre where the stranger had pointed before.

“I gotta say, I wasn’t expecting you to come over and join me.” The stranger said, pulling out a pack of smokes and holding it out towards Hendery. “You seemed pretty straight laced for a moment, until I recognised the dead look in your eyes.

“Just for that, I’m taking two cigarettes and your name.” Hendery said with a burst of confidence, opening the pack and pulling out two cigarettes, and the stranger laughed, throwing his head back happily.

“Pretty with a mouth, I like it.” He said, pulling out a cigarette for himself and holding out a scratched, purple lighter with random black scribbles on it. “Ten Leechaiyapornkul, but just Ten is fine.”

“That’s not your real name, is it?” Hendery asked, taking the lighter and quickly lighting up a cigarette before leaning his head back against the wall of the theatre — his parents would kill him if he knew he smoked, so he didn’t get to go to the next town over to buy a pack often, and he was going to take full advantage of the opportunity for a free smoke.

“No, but my real name was given to me by parents who don’t deserve me, so I don’t use it.” Ten said, and Hendery nodded once as they slipped into silence.

He knew all too well how that felt.

“What brings you to Riverton, Kansas, Ten” Hendery said, the Chinese accent gently caressing his words stumbling over the name of his hometown, and Ten’s lips twitched again in what seemed to be a smile before it faded once more.

“I’m just passing through.” Ten said, leaning an arm against the wall and looking up at Hendery with a slight smirk painting his lips. “Say, that motorcycle parked at the side of the movie theatre wouldn’t happen to be yours, would it?”

“It is, yeah. Saved up for six years to buy it.” Hendery said, taking a long drag and holding the smoke in for a moment to keep eye contact with Ten before turning his head to blow it all back out. “Now I just gotta wait until I gather the courage to take it and all my shit and get out of this backwards town.”

“Why not tonight?” Ten said suddenly, and Hendery’s gaze flicked back up to him in surprise. “Take a risk — finish your shift tonight, get the money out of the register that you’re owed, grab all your shit, and let’s get out of here, you and me.”

“I don’t even know who you are, and you want me to just run away with you?” Hendery said, his lips curling up into a smile as he let out a quiet breath of laughter. Ten didn’t look away from him, the shorter licking his lips as the Chinese man contemplated the offer. “I gotta say, the thought of running away with a handsome stranger sounds very tempting. What’s your end destination?”

“California. I’ve got a modelling gig set up there in a few months, so I’ve got time and money to get there.” Ten replied, reaching a hand up to caress Hendery’s cheek, and the taller man chewed on his bottom lip in thought.

“Meet me back here at eleven.” Hendery said, placing a hand on Ten’s chest and gently pushing the shorter man backwards so he could get off of his spot on the wall. “I’ll have a decision for you by then.”

“I’ll be waiting for you, pretty.” Ten said, a smile gracing his pink lips (the sight of it causing Hendery’s heart to skip a few beats, but Ten didn’t need to know that) as he walked backwards from the theatre, and the taller man watched him go for a moment before flicking the rest of his cigarette to the ground.

He had already made his decision, however, knowing that his answer was going to be ‘yes’ as soon as he told Ten to meet him up an hour after Hendery would be done at the theatre. It was the only thing on his mind as he closed the movie theatre for the night, pulling out what he was owed on his paycheck from the registers and leaving his keys on the ticket booth desk before walking home. All of the things he wanted to bring along with him fit in the two motorcycle bags he owned, his cell phone left on the bedside table as he didn’t want his parents to be able to track him, and he carried the bags back to the theatre and got them all fastened before walking back to the front of the theatre to wait.

Hendery still had the purple light in his pocket from earlier, and he pulled it out to light the other cigarettes that Ten had let him take. It was a little chillier in the night, and he pulled his leather jacket tighter around him to attempt to keep warmth in his thin frame.

“I wasn’t expecting you to be here, in all honesty.” Ten said from behind him, and Hendery turned around to watch the man approach him. He shrugged both shoulders and took a long pull from his cigarette, blowing out smoke as Ten became cleared in the night under the streetlight. “I thought you were just giving me a meet up time so you could reject me.”

“What can I say? I’m tired of this place, and I deserve much better.” Hendery said, his head craning back as Ten came to a stop in front of him.

“So you decided to take a risk with someone you don’t know? How scandalous.” Ten said, looking up at Hendery, and the Chinese man impulsively decided to take another risk as he dropped the cigarette and reached up for Ten’s neck.

Ten met him in the middle as their lips connected in a hungry, filthy kiss, tongues already sliding out from behind closed lips to tangle together in a passionate embrace. Slowly, Hendery backed the shorter man up against the streetlamp, his hands firmly planted on Ten’s thin waist as his black hair was tugged by pale fingers.

Hendery took control of the kiss, sliding his tongue against Ten’s languidly with his hands slipping up Ten’s shirt to touch his skin. Ten let out a soft whimper, his fingers tightening in Hendery’s hair as he pressed up against the taller, Hendery’s lips tearing away from Ten’s to mouth along his pale neck. Ten moaned loudly this time as Hendery bit and sucked at his neck to mark him, his hips bucking forward just once, and the taller man kissed his way back up to Ten’s sinful mouth.

“I’m going to take as many risks as I can, to get the happiness I deserve.” Hendery whispered brokenly against Ten’s lips, and the smaller pulled away with his teeth on Hendery’s bottom lip. They looked at each other for a long moment before Ten leaned back in to kiss Hendery more gently this time, only lingering for a few moments before pulling back.

“I’ll make sure that this risk was worth it.” Ten said, pressing his forehead to Hendery’s, and Hendery let himself soak in those words for a long moment.

Ten looked ethereal in the night, stars lighting up in his eyes as his pale skin was illuminated in the red of the movie theatre sign and the white of the streetlamp above them. The mark on his neck was blossoming deep purple, his formerly pink lips now red and swollen and slick with spit, and Hendery had never seen anybody look so beautiful.

Slowly, he tangled his fingers with Ten’s, and he tugged the smaller man along beside him towards their motorcycles parked next to each other beside the movie theatre. He knew that taking such a big risk would be scary and difficult, but his heart had never connected with someone so strongly before.

Eventually, those risks ended up being worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> hope you guys enjoyed it! this was so much fun to write!!
> 
> drop a comment below if you liked it! i'm absolutely taking prompts in my cc (that's currently dead, let's liven it up) for more if you'd like to read something specific!
> 
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> [masterlist of links](https://twitter.com/enceeteadealer/status/1149788025682980864)


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